Blue Snow
by Tom Pokenutter
Summary: After a world-shattering event in which the entire population of Hoenn is transformed into Pokémon, Kyle Montressor misses the oppotunity to return to human form. However, he decides to look into finding a way to restore his humanity. Along the way, he tracks down former members of his Pokémon team to aid him in his quest.
1. Prologue

Rustboro City

June 17th, 2024  
9:25 AM

1: 35 until the Day of Blue Snow

Kyle Montressor looked around his dorm room and hoisted his backpack onto his shoulders. It seemed to be in its usual state of organization- books on shelves, laundry in the hamper, and nothing where it could be tripped over. He was certain that he had everything he needed- his binder, his textbook, Grant's Poké Ball, and his wallet. And yet, something was still bothering him.

A sudden thought struck him, so he looked over towards his closet door where a full length mirror hung. His hair had been combed, his shirt was wrinkle-free, and his glasses were completely clean, so it was nothing related to his appearance...

He reached down to his belt and produced Grant's Poké Ball. It had been ages since the red paint on top had been anything but dented and chipped, but he had gone out of his way in recent years to try and clean it on a regular basis. Realizing that it was probably due to be cleaned again sometime soon, he released his Infernape and placed his backpack down on the ground.

As the fire monkey stretched himself out, Kyle spoke with concern in his voice. "Hey, Grant. I know it sounds weird, but I can't shake this feeling like something's off today. I don't know what it is, though. Any clues?"

Grant tilted his head to the side. "Infern?"

Kyle chuckled. "No, I remember that I've got lunch with Teri today. In fact, that's why I'm so worried. You think it has anything to do with that?"

Grant immediately started shaking his head. Kyle smiled, and leaned against a wall. "Well, it's nice to know that you have some confidence in me... Anyway, I'm probably imagining it. You interested in hanging around, or would you rather stay behind?"

The Infernape picked up his Poké Ball, and clicked the button with a grin. A red beam fired out, and ensnared him, pulling him back inside. Kyle leaned down, and picked the Ball up.

"Thanks, buddy," he muttered before leaving the room.

Even for June, the temperature was blistering. There were very few people out on the streets in this weather, so Kyle found that the walk was at least pleasant in that regard. As much as he liked other people, too many of them made for longer journeys between point A and point B.

He began looking up and down the street, trying to catch a glimpse of Teri, one of his oldest and dearest friends. They had arranged lunch that day, and he felt that he was ready to ask her if she was interested in dating. This was the cause for his nerves earlier- this had to go off without a hitch.

A few minutes later, he heard a shout from behind him, and he turned to see Teri approaching him from behind. She had chosen a very casual ensemble for the day- just jeans and a yellow t-shirt. Her hair, however, was what made the outfit unusual- rather than the typical shoulder-length blonde she usually wore, she seemed to be trying to pull off a Princess Leia look.

"Hey, Kyle! How've you been?"

Kyle smiled, and approached her. "Pretty good. I'm finally passing this semester's classes. What about you?"

"I haven't been doing too badly myself. Four badges, and a Pokédex count of fifty."

Kyle grinned a little at that. "Only four?"

"Well, it's not eight badges and four league championships, but let's face it- for those of us who weren't immediately struck with the desire to travel across the land, searching far and wide the instant we turned ten, four is a decent number."

The two of them bantered back and forth for a while before Teri looked behind Kyle towards the cafe behind him. The building was on a street corner and had a number of tables out front. The smell of cooking Tauros wafted up and down the street. "So, that's where we're having lunch?"

"Yeah. I've been here a couple of times. While the food's not the best on the planet, the service and atmosphere are better than most places in town."

He led her inside and they were seated on the patio in front. As they took their seats, Teri noticed Grant's Poké Ball. "You still keep one of them around?"

Kyle's face fell at the thought of the others. "Yeah. Grant, at least, refuses to leave. The rest all left at some point or another..."

"Do you ever miss it? The joy of travel, the thrill of victory, the roar of a supportive crowd?"

He thought for a moment, remembering his previous triumphs. "...I do. And I would like to try it again someday, but for right now, I have a medical degree to earn..."

The two of them were silent for some time before Teri spoke up. "Well, at least Grant is sticking around. He's more dedicated than a number of starters I've met, which when you think about it, says quite a bit."

Kyle nodded and got the sense that, within his Poké Ball, Grant's face had gone even redder than usual.

"Speaking of starters, Mira finally evolved into a Sceptile. The rest of the party's doing just as well- in Dracul's case, even better. Who would have thought that the Poochyena I picked up on 102 would become the powerhouse he is now?"

Kyle nodded enthusiastically and was about to ask about one of her other Pokémon when a loud cracking sound silenced the entire city. A white flash flew from the ground several miles away into the sky, and an uncharacteristically cold wind blew through the streets.

This was followed by several more seconds of silence, and then bewildered yammering from just about everyone outside their homes. A number of people had left their houses and were staring in the direction of the spark. Tension was thick in the air. A general sense of confusion hung around the city.

Then, the temperature dropped thirty degrees. And another twenty. The sudden cold caught many off guard, and a good number stood in place, shocked by this development. A few ran inside, but an even larger number stood still as the first snowflakes fell.

Kyle and Teri stared upward as they floated down to earth, slow even for snowflakes. As they came into contact with the ground, Kyle heard Teri muttering to herself.

"How can it be snowing? It's June! And are the flakes _blue?_"

A sudden hissing sound brought their attention to a passerby- a young man about Kyle's age. The snow had made contact with him and seemed to be making his skin break out in a rash of some sort. But no, that wasn't it- as the redness continued along his face, Kyle watched as the clearly dumbstruck man's form appeared to shift. In the space of about a minute, the man shrank two feet, grew a tail, and his nails sharpened into claws. As the man's skull elongated and his tail caught fire, it became apparent that they weren't looking at a human anymore.

The clearly confused Charmeleon outside looked over towards them. He tried to speak for a few seconds, but his voice seemed to have been turned off. Ten seconds after he started, however, it finally kicked back in.

"Char? Charmel, char, meleon..."

Kyle was already on his feet. It was time for action, not panic. "Teri, we need to get inside-"

His words were cut off by the growing volume of a thousand hisses as the snow fell on Rustboro.

Teri rose, and the two made a break for the shop. However, running through the snow seemed to attract it to them, and each tripped over their own feet as they lost control of their legs.

Kyle winced as he fell, realizing that the outside world seemed to be expanding. No, that wasn't it- he was shrinking. What's more, his skin seemed to be changing from its normal slight tan to a brownish color. His hand shrank even more than the rest of his arms, and took on a mitten-like shape.

As he felt a number of spikes grow out of his back, he realized that while he ought to be panicking, he was more interested in how this process was somehow not painful. His skull changed shape, and he felt something materialize on the outside of his head. His peripheral vision decreased slightly as he saw eye holes in the middle of a field of white. There was a sound as well- much like holding your ear up to a conch. Finally, a short tail extended out of his back.

After a moment to make sure that nothing felt injured after his tumble, he picked himself up, and did a double-take at the Aerodactyl that was lying on the ground next to him. Assuming it was Teri, he leaned down next to her. He attempted to speak, but like the passerby from before, his vocal chords seemed inactive for the first ten seconds. When he finally managed to speak, he was surprised to hear his voice come through mostly unaltered.

"Teri, we have to-"

Before he could finish his thought, the Aerodactyl turned her head and whispered... something. It was hard for Kyle to make out, but he understood his own name easily enough. He was about to try and pick her up when the panic began.

In the streets of Rustboro, every former human realized what had just happened and simultaneously ran for the closest door they could find. Unfortunately, this brought them crashing into each other, the occasional car, and the sides of buildings. A transforming Steelix knocked the front of a building down, collapsing a wall inward, and exposing those inside to the blue snow.

Amidst all this anarchy, a secondary panic within Kyle's mind activated, and he felt his mind drift. He felt an immense longing for someone- where had that thought come from? He was concerned about his mother- no, he wasn't. She was fine! Was she? Of course! He had spoken to her last-

Kyle sank to his knees, fighting a mental battle against the psychological baggage that apparently came with his new form. He became dimly aware of a Nidoqueen charging past him and the Aerodactyl still speaking in that strange tongue. No. He couldn't deal with this all at once. He had to-

Car brakes squealed some ten feet to his right, and that was what got his legs moving. He had to get away. Where didn't matter- as long as he was far away from this chaos. He dashed five feet and tripped over Grant's Ball. Barely thinking that the Infernape could take care of himself, he picked himself up, ran into an alleyway, and kept running.

***  
Rustboro City

June 20th, 2024  
2:00 PM

03:03:00 since the Day of Blue Snow began.

Rustboro City lay dead silent. The city that had three days ago been in the midst of its longest heat wave on record lay in ruins coated in heaps of Blue Snow. There was little movement on the streets outside.

If one listened closely, however, they could hear a Cubone muttering to himself underneath a cardboard box in the middle of an alley.

Kyle had woken up and was now starting his third straight day of trying to convince himself that this was some kind of dream. So far, he had managed to wear out his voice twice.

He had found that box an hour after abandoning Teri. He had spent the hour calling for help, but he couldn't understand any of the Pokémon out there. None of them seemed to be capable of understanding him either.

So here he was: minding his own business and trying to convince himself that he was in some kind of nightmare. He might have succeeded if a loud knock hadn't come from the lid of the box.

"Hey! Anyone under there?"

Kyle was startled out of his stupor by the voice. This was the first one he could understand- maybe it was an untransformed human?

For the first time in three days, Kyle lifted the box up and stared into the face of an Infernape- one that he recognized.

"...Grant?"

Grant seemed equally surprised. "...You know me? That's a first. Everyone else here didn't. Perhaps you can help me then. I'm looking for my trainer. Name of Kyle Montressor."

Kyle was dumbstruck for a moment and then immediately started speaking very quickly, not caring that he could suddenly understand his Infernape's speech perfectly.

"Grant, it's me! I don't know what's going on, and I've spent three days trying to convince myself I'm dreaming, and I lost Teri, and I'm a Cubone now, and-"

Grant placed a finger over Kyle's lips. "Okay, first off, you've got an accent that's so thick, it could be used to bludgeon someone. All of you former humans do. I didn't understand a word of that. Second, take a moment to try and order your thoughts. Try again, one word at a time."

Kyle took a deep breath, and started over. "Grant. It's. Me. I'm. Kyle."

Grant took a few minutes to try and decipher his trainer's words. When he finally did, though, his face broke into a smile. "Oh, hey! What luck! I've been looking for you a while!"

He sat down next to Kyle, and held something out- his Poké Ball. "This nearly got stomped in front of that cafe. Keep better track of it in the future. I like you, and I'd rather not get released."

Kyle was silent. Grant leaned down in front of him. "Something the matter?"

"Grant, I'm not myself. My head-"

"One word at a time, please. I know it's frustrating at first, but I'll eventually figure this accent out, and yours will gradually conform to mine. Trust me- by the time I evolved into an Infernape, most Pokémon couldn't even tell that I was from Sinnoh."

"Grant. Something's. Up. With. My. Mind."

Grant raised his eyebrows. "Really? Well, I did notice a few species-specific behaviors cropping up along the way here- for example, there was a Meowth who had a minor panic attack when I alerted her to the fact that she was hoarding shiny objects. What's wrong, exactly?"

"Two. Things. First. Is. That. I. Can't. Stop. Thinking. About. My. Mother."

"Ah. Well, that's normal for Cubones. I've actually spoken with a few at Pokémon Centers, and it's something you'll eventually stop noticing. It's just something you'll have to deal with for a while. You said there was something else?"

"Yes. I. Feel. Drawn. To. The. North. For. Some. Reason."

"What's up North?"

"No. Clue. It. Feels. Like. I'm. Missing. Something. And. That. Something. Can. Be. Found. That. Way."

Grant seemed lost in thought, before snapping his fingers. "I think I've got it figured out. I don't want to say anything in case I'm wrong, but I think you ought to go. And before you ask any questions about why, let me just call attention to the fact that you seem to be lacking something typically associated with your new species."

"The. Bone. Club? I. Thought. That. Was. Weird. You're. Saying. That's. Related. To. This?"

"Probably. You ought to go. And I'm coming with you. You could use some protection, am I right?"

"...That. Would. Be. Nice. Thanks. Grant."

Grant picked himself up and offered a hand to Kyle. "So, why don't you fill me in on what's happened since then while we walk?"

Kyle nodded, and the two walked away from the silent city with a new destination in mind.

***  
_June 24th, 2024__The Blue Snow fell across the Hoenn region for seven days. During this time period, crimes of all sorts were above nobody, and chaos ruled the streets. The property damage alone was estimated to be worth billions, and even ten years later, repairs were still being made.__On June 24th, another bizarre weather pattern was witnessed across the Hoenn region. The atmosphere over the region suddenly generated an unknown gas that tinted the rays of the sun red. Any who breathed the gas reverted back to human form.__However, an estimated ten percent of those affected by the Blue Snow were unable to breathe the gas. This includes those who were inside, in places with heavily polluted air, and who, like Kyle, were underground on that day. Once the window of twelve hours finished, the gas dissipated, making a return to human form nigh-impossible for those still trapped as Pokémon.__The Hoenn government offered a program for transformed humans that would allow them to return to theoretically-normal lives. Once they registered with the program, they received three things- an ID card marking them as a former human, a prototype translator app for any smartphone they may own, and a Poké Ball for themselves, should they want to remain uncaptured by other humans. Those under the program retained all the rights of ordinary human citizens.__  
_

**The next chapter will be published in the first week of July 2013.**


	2. Chapter 1: Off the Radar

Route 111

July 30th, 2024

2:00 PM

The heat of the sun beat down on the sandy floor of Route 111. The desert winds did very little to help this- in fact, they were the cause of the omnipresent sandstorm over the area. No vegetation grew here, and little life at all graced its surface. The sharp-eyed could see the occasional Cacturne or Trapinch off in the distance, but it was rare to come across any life at all without deliberately chasing after them.

Kyle didn't like coming here, but if it increased his chances of running into her...

He stood atop a dune, and looked down behind him, where Grant followed him. The Infernape was wearing a bandanna over his mouth and an old pair of Go-Goggles, and carried a messenger bag. Kyle, meanwhile, had placed lenses into his skull helmet, and had angled the helmet so that sand would be unlikely to end up in his mouth. A long, cylindrical bag was slung across his back.

Grant shouted up towards him. "And you're completely sure that she'd be here?"

Kyle answered slowly, a habit formed as the result of a month and a half of trying to get people to understand his accent. "Where else would she go? The only other place I could think of would be Slateport, that was the first place we looked. She hadn't been there in years."

"But this far into the desert? And staying in one place for more than a week? I get the sense that we may be barking up the wrong tree here."

"Look, Grant- if we don't find her here, we can go anywhere you like, whether you think one of the party's there or not."

Grant was quiet for a moment before nodding. "Alright, then. But you're going to have to pay for boat tickets."

The two continued searching through the desert, occasionally running into a lost-looking Sandshrew or Baltoy. It was another hour before Grant looked over to the side. "Hey, Kyle! Are we off of the map, or something?"

"I don't know. I left the PokéNav at the hotel- I didn't want it to get destroyed by the sand out here. Why?"

Grant pointed out into the distance. "Because I don't think that's recorded on any map of the region I've ever seen."

Kyle peered out into the near-opaque cloud of sand, searching for whatever it was that Grant had seen. It was a few minutes before he caught sight of it- off in the distance, there was a large, red rock formation just standing in the middle of a field of brown. He turned back to Grant. "How'd you manage to see that?"

"Back when we came through this area the first time, Jenny spent an hour trying to teach me to pick out details in a sandstorm. I have no idea how she knew, but she eventually managed to teach me. I can help you out with it later."

Kyle nodded, and motioned towards the rock. "You think it's worth checking out?"

"I don't know, but I do know it's the closest thing to shelter we've seen all day. Even if it's nothing, at least we tried, right?"

Kyle nodded, and the two began a long trek towards the formation in question. After a half-hour of being buffeted by the sandstorm, they arrived at the base.

The formation was a titanic triangle of sandstone, resembling a seventy-foot red tooth growing out of the desert floor. It was large enough that there was a pocket of clear weather around one side. It was on this side that the pair of them could see a large number of holes in the stone that looked like they'd been hollowed out by something.

The lowest hole was a good twenty feet above the ground, and the pair could hear a strange noise coming out of it. Grant looked down at Kyle, who was busy removing his lenses. In response to Grant's odd look, Kyle explained.

"The sand's not a problem here, and those things were starting to bug me. Anyway, rock climbing. You feeling up to it?"

"Well, that was always Sal's area, but I think I can do it slowly without the HM. What about you?"

"There was a club for it on campus. Still, I learned how to do it as a human. I have no idea how efficient I'll be if I try now."

"So, do you want to try it yourself, or do you want me to give you a piggyback ride up?"

Kyle thought about it for a while, and shrugged. "I guess I could give it a shot. Can I go ahead of you?"

"Go ahead. If you fall, I can try and catch you."

Kyle nodded, and so began the awkward process of trying to figure out how to climb up the wall. He had a decent start, finding grips easily enough. However, he quickly began running out of protrusions and indents, and eventually found himself reaching for sections of the wall that turned out to be completely smooth.

Meanwhile, Grant seemed to be scaling the wall with no difficulty. The Infernape reached the hole first, and stared down towards Kyle, who had barely cleared eight feet. "You want some help?"

Kyle shook his head, and reached around to the bag on his back, fumbling with the zipper as he swung awkwardly on the side of the wall. Eventually, and with much difficulty, he produced a bone club, blunt on one end and sharp on the other. He began scratching away at the rock, gradually making his own handholds. "I'll be a few minutes. Don't go in without me."

Grant turned to look into the crevice, and then back down to Kyle. "Okay, but hurry it up. You'll want to see this."

After about ten minutes of climbing, stopping, and digging out handholds, Kyle finally managed to pull himself up to the mouth of the cave. What he saw nearly made him lose his grip.

The mouth of the cave opened up to what looked like a street in a human town. The darkness of the cave was held at bay by a series of what looked like lamp posts, each one holding a radiant blue orb on top.

A number of buildings had seemingly been dug out of the rock itself, and Pokémon flocked to and from these buildings. Some of these buildings appeared to be shops, as there appeared to be large crowds of Pokémon in front of each, occasionally running away with seeds, apples, and orbs that resembled the ones that illuminated the cave.

Kyle realized that his mouth was gaping, and hastily closed it. Grant chuckled, and rubbed Kyle's skull in a manner similar to ruffling his hair. As Kyle attempted to readjust the suddenly-askew helmet, Grant gestured to the spectacle.

"This is a Pokémon village. You find these things anywhere there are Pokémon, but they're always in places that are hard for humans to reach." Realizing that Kyle still seemed to be in a state of total amazement, Grant continued. "What, did you seriously think that we'd manage to equal or surpass humans in intelligence, but never figure out the whole civilization thing?"

"I... I never actually thought about it."

"You and most of the rest of your old species. Here we have one of those things that we can actually thank the Blue Snow for. What's that, number four now?"

"Five. Number four was the Marowak Graveyard."

Grant chuckled, and strode towards the crowd. "Come on, Kyle. Let's see if we can find Jenny here. Remember- even though your accent's better than it was in June, it's still better to let me do the talking. I mean, you're still only halfway intelligible."

Kyle rolled his eyes. "Thank you, Grant. Thank you so much."

The two began to walk from stall to stall, inquiring about the whereabouts of their target. Kyle followed closely behind Grant, taking in the sights in front of him. Two months ago, he would have written something like this off as an urban legend, yet now here he was, being bumped into and apologized to by random Pokémon, being startled as a Sandshrew burrowed out of the ground inches to his right to make a purchase, and listening to the bubble of noise that seemed to be enveloping the place. He was certain that he heard about six or seven voices calling him over to their shops, and he could even pick out a few accents that seemed to be from out of town.

Eventually, they spoke to a Maractus that seemed to know their target. Following his instructions, the pair made their way outside of the row of shops, and towards a much quieter part of the village.

After a few minutes of searching around what they assumed was a residential district, they arrived at the front of one of the houses, a medium-sized red cube, much like all of the others surrounding it. Unlike those surrounding it, though, the front door seemed to be little more than a small hole by the bottom of the front.

Grant nodded down to Kyle. "Want to do the knocking?"

Kyle pondered it a moment before nodding. "...I would."

He strode over to the hole, and produced his bone club. He used the sharp end to tap three times, and then struck it with the blunt end.

At the last strike, a Flygon crawled out of the hole, and nodded to Kyle. "Hey, there. What can I do for..."

She trailed off as she noticed Grant. She was silent for a few seconds, and then tackled him with a gleeful shout.

"Grant! It's been freaking ages since I last saw you! How've you been?"

Grant took a moment to steady himself before answering, slightly short of breath as a result of the surprise glomp. "I've been... doing well, Jenny. You?"

"Amazing. I've got nothing planned for today- we ought to catch up. Your friend can come along, if he'd like."

Grant nodded, motioning for Kyle to keep quiet. "Absolutely. Er... Can we come in, or did you want to have lunch somewhere?"

Jenny gestured into the hole she had exited. "By all means, come on in! You can tell me what you've been up to, and who your little friend is."

Kyle peered into the hole. It seemed as though Jenny had bought a house made for a much smaller Pokémon- the hole itself was wide enough that Kyle could enter with a lot of room, but Grant could only get through if he crouched. It was a wonder that Jenny could get in and out at all.

The three of them filed inside, and Jenny motioned them towards a table- about three feet high, but with only a foot of space between the top and the ceiling. Kyle took note that Jenny had hunched herself over, and was moving very awkwardly through what seemed to be the kitchen.

"Sorry about the lack of space, Grant. This place was built with Diglett and Dugtrio in mind. The only reason I live here is because it was cheap when I arrived. That was two years ago, and I'm only just now looking into the prices of more reasonable houses."

Grant nodded, and Jenny continued. "So, what brings you out here? I always thought you'd end up sticking by Kyle until you died or he got hit by a car, or something."

"Well... Okay, first off- what happened here a month and a half ago? Anything unusual? Weather-wise, perhaps?"

Jenny thought for a second, and nodded. "You must be talking about the week of rain. I know nothing about it- only that an unusually blue rain fell over the entire desert. A Camerupt came through here saying that it was snowing outside of Route 111, but I don't think that's possible."

"And did anything unusual happen?"

"Well, two or three Pokémon with really odd accents came through here. None of us could understand them, and they cleared out before the end of the week. It could have been a trick of the light, but the sunlight looked red when they left. I hope it wasn't some sort of omen- I've built up a very nice life for myself around here."

Grant nodded, shifting his view over to Kyle before speaking. "Jenny, please put down anything you're holding."

"Why? Something wrong?"

"No. It's just that I want to tell you my friend's identity, and I don't want you dropping anything in surprise."

Jenny shrugged her shoulders, and shuffled over to the table. "What do you mean? Is he famous or something? Part of a Rescue Team, maybe?"

Grant nodded to Kyle, and Kyle spoke. "Hello, Jenny. It's Kyle."

Jenny stood completely still for a few seconds. When she finally did move, she grabbed Kyle in a crushing hug.

"Kyle! Really? It's been ages! Great to see you!"

Kyle managed to choke out, "Jenny, I can't brea-"

She abruptly pulled Kyle away from herself, and awkwardly placed him back at his seat. Something seemed to connect a second later. "... Wait. Why are you a Cubone?"

"Remember that rain you mentioned? Turns out that it really did snow across the Hoenn region that day. Any human touched by the snow-"

Jenny tilted her head to the side. "Okay, so I think you need to slow it down. Your accent's... Arceus, it's slightly more intelligible than those Pokémon that traveled through here during the week of rainfall! Were those humans, Kyle?"

Rather than try and make her suffer through his accent again, Kyle simply settled for a nod. Jenny spun around to Grant. "Right! You explain!"

Grant shrugged. "It snowed blue. Humans turned into Pokémon. Kyle and I headed North. We got him a Bone Club in a Marowak Graveyard, which in this case turned out to be a massive catacomb underneath Meteor Falls. We were under there for a week, where he trained in the basics of bone combat under a stuffy Marowak elder, and we left to discover that while we were underground, the sun turned red, and turned all the humans back to normal. Kyle missed it... Now he's a Cubone. You got all that?"

Jenny nodded after a minute, and sat down at the table. She was silent for a moment and looked over at Kyle. "That's the long and short of it?"

"Yes."

"I see. What now, then? If there were others like you, the Hoenn government ought to have tried to help you live a normal life."

Kyle slowed down his speech even more. "They did. The problem was that I lost Teri."

Jenny took a second to figure his accent out, and then raised an eyebrow. "You lost her? How do you lose someone you've been crushing on since before I was born?"

"When the Blue Snow fell, I panicked. I ran from the place we were having lunch, and that was the last time I saw her. There were reports of people like me feeling drawn to certain areas- it's possible that she felt drawn to somewhere else. When I returned to Rustboro, I couldn't find her anywhere."

"And so now, you're searching for her?"

"Not exactly. I will, in time. First, however, Grant brought up an interesting point when I tried to leave the first time. I have little to no combat experience. I was trained in the bare-bones basics of bone combat. If I get in a fight, I'm not likely to come out of it alive. I could rely on Grant, but he hasn't been in a fight since our fourth Hoenn League."

Jenny shook her head. "Then I guess I know where you came here. I can't come with you. I have a lot going on in my life right now, not the least of which is a job that I can't exactly take a vacation from without any kind of notice."

Kyle seemed ready to argue, but Grant placed a hand over his mouth. "I understand, Jenny. Is it possible for you to put in the request and come with us?"

"Yeah, but you'd have to stick around this house for at least a week. Even then, there's a chance that I'll be denied."

Grant slowly nodded. "I understand. May we stay a while, just in case? You could spend some time trying to understand Kyle's accent."

Jenny chuckled a bit at that. "You can stay a few days. Even if I'm denied vacation, it'll be good catching up with the two of you. Out of curiosity, you haven't gone after anyone else yet, have you?"

Kyle tried to speak, and Grant removed his hand from Kyle's mouth. "No, not yet. We figured you'd be... well, not living in one specific place."

"You thought I'd be on the road, right? Not staying in any one place for more than a week? Living life at a breakneck pace, and enjoying all that the world has to offer?"

Grant nodded. "Essentially. I mean, those were the exact things that you said you'd do when you left. What happened?"

"Exactly that. I traveled the Hoenn region for a month, not stopping for anything. Then one day, I took a wrong turn, and blundered into a sandstorm. I wandered for a week, slowly dying of thirst, and eventually heat stroke. I was lucky to end up here, where I was found by a group of children. One of the families here brought me in, and took care of me while I recovered. I haven't left here since."

Kyle seemed surprised. "You didn't try to return home after that?"

"Well I owed the family that saved me quite a bit. By the time they had to demand that I stop paying for their food, I had grown used to this town."

Grant nodded. "I see. Well, this does complicate things a bit- I had hoped you'd be the easy one."

"Wow, two years, and you still have basically no brain-mouth filter, Grant."

The two stared at each other for a few seconds, and both chuckled. Jenny smiled at the two of them. "Well, anyway, feel free to stick around for the next few days. I have to ask my boss if I can take an extended vacation. Let me make this clear, though- if I can't leave, or decide I don't want to go, that's it. No complaining- you two are going to have to leave without me."

The pair nodded, and Jenny smiled. "Now, I have a few errands I have to run. Today I have off, but I can speak to my boss first thing tomorrow. How does that sound?"

***

The next morning, Jenny left the two of them behind at home, and headed to her place of work. The old building had once been a house, but had been bought out by the group she worked for- a Rescue Team Job Outpost. The entire front of it had been demolished, and had been rebuilt as a two-story kiosk, thus making it stand out from the buildings around it.

She unlocked the door, and entered to see her two co-workers, Darius the Sandslash and Barnaby the Claydol seated at a table. The Sandslash appeared to be reading a piece of paper, and the Claydol was taking a long drink of tea. She nodded to the two of them, and sat down at one of the two available chairs. "So, any news today, Darius?"

The Sandslash looked up from his paper. "Well, they found Team Salient. Turns out that they were hiding in a military camp- not sure how we missed them. Also, there's news of more of those Pokémon with weird accents showing up in the area, as well as something about one of them claiming to be a famous Pokémon trainer- Someone Stone. Aside from that, it's a lot of unfounded rumors that'll send our clients into a tizzy- for example, a rumor about a Ho-oh nest on Mirage Island. Makes me wonder how many of them will search around for the place before they give up."

Jenny nodded, and shrugged. "Probably the exact same as last time- all but the least-experienced ones. Have either of you guys seen the boss?"

Barnaby shrugged. "I'm sure he's either on his way, or passed out upstairs amongst the myriad of requests that came in last night. You can check if you'd like- we'll leave a cup of tea for you."

Jenny nodded, and moved to the back of the store. A dusty kitchen served as the rear of the store, and a flight of stairs led to the second floor. She leaned on the railing, and called upstairs, "Hey, Luke! You up there?"

A loud crash from the upper floor answered her question, and she ascended the stairs to see her boss buried in a pile of scrolls. She chuckled a bit as she watched the half-asleep Scizor attempt to pick himself up with his dignity intact. "Good morning, Luke. Need anything up here?"

Luke groaned, and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah. Someone to sort through these things, so I don't have to. I've tried getting Darius up here, but he never gets anything done."

Jenny shrugged a little. "Eh, it's not like he gets much done at all without you lighting a fire underneath him."

The two shared an awkward silence, and it was a while before either spoke. Jenny broke the silence with a small cough, and then asked her question.

"So, look... Er... I need to ask for some time off."

Luke shrugged. "It depends. Why, and for how long?"

"I actually don't know yet. And... Well, we have some time until the doors open- can you sit down and listen?"

The Scizor appeared to be weighing his options for a minute before nodding. "There's some deeply personal reason for it, isn't there?"

"Well... Okay, first off- do you know anything about who I was before I came here?"

"To this workplace? You were that Flygon that my uncle rescued, and who refused to stop paying for his family's food, no matter where they tried to buy it."

Jenny chuckled a bit. "Actually, I mean before that. Before I came to this town, I was a trained Pokémon. I was owned by one Kyle Montressor, a four-time Hoenn league champion."

"I see. That's nothing too unusual- we get abandoned Pokémon out here all the time. That's actually how my grandmother came to this town."

"But that's the thing- he never abandoned me. After victory number four, he brought the team together, and told us that he was retiring. He acknowledged that this arrangement may not sit well with some of us, so he told us that we were all free to leave at any point. Over the next year, all of us left at one point or another."

"Interesting. Are you feeling nostalgic, then?"

Jenny shook her head. "Not exactly."

It was probably a bad idea to explain that her former trainer was now at home in the body of a Cubone, so she settled on a half-truth. "One of the old team members, Grant, showed up here yesterday, claiming that Kyle needed help finding a friend who had gone missing. The two of them think it could be dangerous, and were pulling the old group back together."

Luke nodded, and stood up. "I see. You don't know how long you'll be gone for. You think it might be dangerous. There is a chance that you might decide that you want to stay with your human. And you're asking for a vacation for this?"

Jenny shrugged. "Well, I figured that it was better than just bailing on you."

"Nevertheless, I think that if you were to leave town like that, it would be a bad idea to hold your job for you."

Jenny took a second to digest this. "So, wait. You'll fire me if I leave?"

"Only because it would be impractical for me to do anything else in this situation. I'll tell you what, though- my family was able to lend me the money to start this business because someone was buying their food for them. If you come back here, I'll see about getting you a job here, even if I have to make one up. You'll receive a pay cut, but it's a job."

Jenny slowly nodded. She was still being screwed over, but at least it wasn't as bad as she'd imagined...

"So, when were you planning on leaving, assuming you still want to go?"

She shrugged. "Well, I was thinking a week, but if I don't work here anymore, I guess I could go anytime?"

Luke nodded. "Very well. Why don't you leave at the end of the work day? That way, if you end up settling down somewhere else, this can at least look good on your resumé."

Kyle and Grant stood outside of the entrance to the town. It had been around two hours since Jenny had arrived home and told them to wait for her at the mouth of the cave.

Grant hoisted his bag onto his shoulders. He nodded down to Kyle. "So, one down. Any clue where we're headed next?"

"Lilycove. I've heard rumors that one of our old friends is there. Thing is, he'll be a lot tougher to convince. I'd like you and Jenny to do most of the talking for that one, alright?"

Grant rolled his eyes. "If we're going after who I think we are, then I suppose I'll have to be at my most charming. Harris's ego could easily become an obstacle here..."

Kyle nodded, and the pair of them looked back towards the town as a sound like a buzz saw echoes through the air. Out of nowhere, Jenny came rocketing at them, and landed quickly on the ground. Unlike before, she wore a teal backpack.

"Hey, guys! I'm ready to go!"

The pair of them nodded, and began to move into the sandstorm from whence they came. Jenny took one more look behind her at the place that had become her home. It was a bit of a shame that she had to choose between traveling and staying put...

… Still, this was what she'd set out to do, wasn't it? Travel across the Hoenn region on one adventure or another?

Smiling slightly to herself, she took to the air again, and followed after the odd pair that had re-entered her life after their long absence.


	3. Chapter 2: Ante Up

Plasma Frigate

August 1st, 2024

4:30 AM, Unova Standard Time

Colress placed the rack of test tubes down on the table, and examined the contents. The blue fluid inside each had been collected during the week of Blue Snow, and had been preserved over the month and a half since then.

It was time to take this batch apart, and see what made it work.

Placing one of the test tubes in a centrifuge, he began the process of separating the chemical into its components. This chemical had forced humanity to make an Darwin evolutionary shift- one that moved it down alternate paths that it could have taken. Furthermore, that red sun chemical reversed it.

If he could figure out either of those two...

He heard the sound of footsteps behind him, and turned to face the door. It was that time of day, and Nate would probably be coming for their daily battle.

However, as he turned around, he found himself staring at a woman dressed in a purple cloak. The hood covered her face, meaning that only her mouth was visible. He sighed.

"It's about time one of you showed up."

The figure spoke, glee barely contained in her voice.

"You must have known we'd be coming for you. The regional professors, Blaine, you... I'm sorry, but if any of you get close to discovering how we synthesize Project Blue, you could end up throwing a gigantic wrench into our plans. We can't have that."

Colress nodded, and dropped his hands to his sides. "I figured as much... The exits are blocked, the police have been bought off, and you have backup plans for if I manage to survive your first attempt?"

"Essentially. I thought that we ought to go the extra mile for a clean kill- you know, make sure it gets done. We really can't have you creating the antidote when we move on to phase two- that would defeat the whole purpose."

"...Very well. This is checkmate, then."

Colress nodded, and stood, waiting for the figure to act. She nodded, and he felt a thick, steel limb crash into his back. He fell with a barely suppressed shout of pain, and the figure strode over next to him.

"Farewell," was the last thing he heard before another blow smashed into him. Then a third. And a fourth.

The figure stood, and produced a Poké Ball.

"Metagross, I think we're done here."

The steel-type Pokémon stood back from the corpse, and was enveloped in a beam of red light. The woman smiled, and as she exited the way she came in, she took one final look at the results of that evening's work.

"One down..."

Route 121

August 1st, 2024

1:00 PM

"No, you want to drop your voice's pitch a little at the sentence's midpoint. Try again, Kyle."

Kyle took a deep breath, and spoke to Jenny.

"How now, shiny Miltank?"

Jenny shook her head, disappointment written across her face. "You're not doing a very good job of this. It's still garbled."

"I'm sorry- all I hear is English."

"Perhaps there's some way to get you to hear yourself... Pokémon language isn't very complicated if you can hear what you sound like. The majority of its meaning is understood based on your tone and choice of syllable."

Grant sat up from underneath a nearby tree. "Right, but I'm not sure if knowing that's going to help his accent at all. He's gotten a lot better just being around Pokémon, so I think he's adapting on a subconscious level. Better to just let him adapt as normal."

Jenny sighed, and picked her bag up. "Probably, but it's still distracting when he's speaking sort of normally one second, and follows it up stating that his hovercraft is full of Eelektrik."

The group had settled down for lunch an hour ago, and Jenny had eventually gotten fed up with his accent. She had spent the last fifteen minutes trying to teach him how to speak properly, but it was going over like a load of bricks.

Grant shrugged. "I suppose the best we can do is pray like crazy that Harris can understand him. Who knows- maybe Lilycove has a lot of people like Kyle."

Kyle nodded, and slung his bone club over his back. "Speaking of, you think he'll be at the department store?"

Jenny nodded. "There's food there. I'm certain he'd want to be located very close to a source."

"Right. I suppose that's our destination, then."

The trio picked up their belongings, and headed off to the city to their east.

"Oh, yeah, that Ambipom? Haven't seen him since the Snow fell."

Kyle nodded, and held his cell phone out to the shopkeeper. As he spoke into the speaker, a basic English translation flashed onto the screen.

"Understood. Thank you, sir. Do you have any idea where he may have gone?"

The shopkeeper shrugged. "Well, I know I saw at least three monkeys in the Contest Hall over the week we all holed up in there. Not sure if one of them was our moocher, but I know that at least two of them were eloquent speakers."

Kyle nodded, and headed over towards a nearby bus stop where Grant and Jenny stood waiting for him. Jenny was the first to speak. "No luck?"

"None. There's a possibility he's near the Contest Hall, but no guarantees. Did either of you see a map at any point coming into the city?"

Grant placed his bag on the ground, and began rummaging around inside it. "I picked one up when you started talking to that guy. Ah, here we go!"

Spreading the map out in front of them, Grant pointed to a purple square labeled "Contest Hall."

"Now, we just need to figure out where we are. Or, we could wait for a bus- either works."

"We won't be here very long, one way or another. The bus sounds like a good option."

The trio waited until a bus pulled up, and boarded it. They weren't the only Pokémon on board- at least seven others were seated in different areas. Kyle could make out a Blue Snow accent coming from the nearest one- a Bagon.

"Ah'm kite sure we get uff et za neksht stop..."

Lord Arceus, that was what he sounded like?

They all filed into seats near the back, Kyle taking a window seat. Taking a look out the window, he noticed that the streets were basically empty. One or two passerby ran by, spending as little time as possible with nothing between them and the sky. Each carried an umbrella, even though the forecast had said clear weather for the next week.

Truthfully, most towns in Hoenn had ended up in a similar state. Post Blue-Snow, it was considered unusual for humans to go around outside without some form of protection from the weather. Kyle's mother had actually been disappointed that he wouldn't be able to wear the raincoat she'd bought him.

He was jolted back to the present as the bus started moving. He was dimly aware of Grant and Jenny talking about the rest of the team, but most of his attention was now focused on the radio broadcast.

"...And you think it could happen again? It's been two months almost, and we've seen nary a flake in the sky."

"It could, and it will. It's quite obvious that it's some kind of message from Arceus- but whether it's divine punishment or a way to become more enlightened about the world around us remains unclear."

"Are you sure it wasn't random chance?"

"He returned us to our bodies afterward- if it was random, then it's an example of lightning striking twice."

Another newscaster cut the pair of them off to segue into the next segment, which was discussing the impact that the Blue Snow had on the Ever Grande conference, and whether afflicted humans would be allowed to compete. Kyle would have continued listening if Jenny hadn't tapped on his shoulder.

"It's probably that gigantic purple building, right?"

He looked out the window, and nodded. "Yeah. Looks like..."

They departed, and Grant approached the door. He pulled it open, and poked his head inside. "...Huh. Isn't this place supposed to be livelier?"

Kyle followed him inside, and was surprised to find that the building was almost completely dark on the inside. There was a layer of dust on the floor, broken only by a series of several different kinds of footprints leading between it and a door near the back.

Jenny followed after, and gestured to the footprints. "We follow these?"

Grant sighed. "They're kind of our only lead, Jenny."

Before Jenny could retort, Kyle pulled his bone club out of its sleeve, and gave three light taps on the hardwood floor, followed by one loud strike. As the final one reverberated around the room, they heard the faint sound of a voice from the door near the back.

"The door's open, you can come on in."

As they followed the trail of footprints, Jenny spoke up. "That's the same way you knocked on my door. You never used to knock like that- what's up?"

"When I was trained in the Marowak graveyard, the elder got frustrated with my accent. We agreed on a number of code taps that could be used to communicate our meaning. As the week went on, I had the meanings literally beaten into me. That one- 'Is there anyone here,' stuck far more than any other. Turns out that it's the only code tap that actually means something outside the context of my training. It's one of the code taps that Marowak use for long-distance conversation."

They reached the back door, and pushed it open. Inside was a dimly-lit poker table, and an Ambipom moving around, setting up dishes. His back still to them, he started up a conversation.

"I'll be honest, when Geordi said that his friend would arrive early, I didn't think it'd be three hours before the game. Still, it'd be rude of me to turn you away. What did he say your name would be? Selena, or something like-"

He cut off as he looked their way. "...Grant. Jenny. How goes it?"

Grant approached him, hand held out. "...Harris. How've you been?" he enquired unenthusiastically.

Harris took a second to study the hand he was offered before shaking it with one of his tail gloves. "Better since the Blue Snow fell. Turns out that you're allowed to stake money on luck. And considering that every Blue Snow from here out to Rustboro can't bluff to save their souls, that means very comfortable living for me."

He looked down at Kyle. "Who's the kid? You two decide to adopt?"

Jenny took a step towards Harris, looking like she was about to slug him. Grant held his arm out to the side, and she slowed to a stop. "As we have both explained to you before, neither Jenny nor I have any interest in dating outside of our egg groups. The Cubone's an afflicted human that has a business proposition for you."

Harris leaned down in front of Kyle. "Alright, let's hear the little guy out. What's your name, kid?"

"Kyle Montressor."

Harris froze in place, a grin fixed on his face. A few seconds later, he drew himself up to his full height, and turned around.

"Pinap Berries. I'm done."

He began placing out dishes again. Grant raised an eyebrow. "You're done? That's it? Not even going to hear him out?"

"Why should I?"

"Well, he [i]is[/i] your trainer."

"Was. He was my trainer."

Kyle spoke up. "Actually, rule #523 of the official Ever Grande League rules state that unless I release you officially, you're still my Pokémon. I still have your Poké Ball- Grant's and Jenny's, too. None of the team was ever officially released, so-"

"Do league rules apply to you now, Kyle? I thought they only applied to humans."

Kyle took a deep breath, doing all that he could not to raise his voice. "Fine. Ignore regulation- why wouldn't you come? You always seemed to be the one who was interested in a bit of adventure."

"You mean ignoring the fact that I was basically told- by you, by the way- that I could either be bound to one city, and never leave again, or get the hell out? How about the fact that I'm very comfortable here? I've got food, shelter, and a small group of Blue Snows that owe me a lot of cash. I'm set."

"First off, no one ever told you to 'get the hell out.' You were given the option to stay if you felt that a slow life was okay, or the option to leave me behind."

Grant spoke up. "And 'Blue Snow' is a descriptor. The PC term for the individual is Afflicted-"

Ignoring the other monkey, Harris stared Kyle down. "Exactly. Sit around and rot, or get the hell out."

The two were completely silent for a few minutes before Kyle attempted to continue. "...Anyway, the adventure in question involves you coming with us to try and figure out where Teri went during the week of Blue Snow."

"You managed to lose her? How'd you pull that off?"

"...That's not important. What matters is-"

"No, I want to hear this. How'd you manage to lose someone you've had a crush on for nine years?"

Kyle sighed. "...I panicked. When the Snow fell, I ran like a coward. When I eventually calmed down, I followed an impulse, and lost her during that time. She could be trapped as a Pokémon like me, or she could be dead; I don't know. But if I can find her again..."

"And what if an opportunity comes up for you to return to human form? Would you put this quest on hold to take care of that?"

"I don't know. It honestly didn't occur to me."

The two were silent a while, and Harris reached into a box. As he began placing poker chips at each seat, he shrugged.

"There's too much stability here, I doubt your ability to remain focused, and frankly, I don't like you very much. Bottom line, there's no reason for me to go with you. I won't chase you away- that would make me a hypocrite. However, if you think for a minute that I have any desire to follow you on some damn fool's journey, I have some very bad news for you."

Kyle was silent for a moment, and nodded. "Right. There's no way to convince you, is there?"

"It took you that long to reach that conclusion?"

"...Right. Grant, Jenny, we're done here."

The pair seemed surprised. Grant leaned down next to Kyle. "Are you sure about this? Harris was one of your better fighters- a real powerhouse, as I recall."

"I can't convince him. I thought appealing to his old interest in adventure may work, but I didn't think he'd be outright hostile."

Jenny, meanwhile, seemed to be examining the poker table. "Harris... you said that this is some sort of gambling game?"

"Yeah, Poker. I learned it from a group of Blue Snows that meet here on a weekly basis. They taught me how to play, and they now owe me more money than some of them actually have."

"So, you're reasonably confident in your ability to play?"

Harris chuckled. "I think I know where you're going with this. I'm not confident in my ability to beat the pants off of humans or Pokémon, but Blue Snows... Well, they're like Bullet Seeding Magikarp in a barrel. None of them are aware of any new tells they may have developed."

"Lucky for you we've got one right here."

Jenny grabbed Kyle, and spun him back around to face the table. "Kyle, have you ever played this game?"

"I think I played it a few times a while back. Truth is, I'm better at Mao, but-"

"You know the rules, that's enough."

She eyed Harris, a look of glee in her eyes. "It's very simple- if Kyle wins, you come with us. If he loses, we vamoose, and you never see any of us again. Deal?"

Harris sat down in a chair, and leaned back, considering his options. After a moment, he smiled. "You know, there's still a part of me screaming that this is a very, very bad idea. But you know what? I do like the idea of never seeing Kyle again..."

He reached back into the box, and produced a deck of cards. He passed it over to Grant, and leaned back. "I figure it's best to have someone who doesn't know the rules deal. Considering it's just the two of us, is five-card simple enough?"

Kyle nodded slowly. "That's fine with me. Grant, can you figure out how to shuffle those?"

Grant was already at work, performing a sloppy bridge shuffle. After a few minutes of getting the motion down, he dealt five cards off to each player, and nodded. "Right. I have no idea what I should do, so just call me when you need me again."

Harris nodded to the pile of chips at Kyle's seat. "You'll use those. For simplicity's sake, ignore the values. Each is worth one. Alright?"

As each tossed the ante into the pot, Jenny leaned down next to Grant. "It's been a while since I was last in Lilycove. I'm going to do some sightseeing, if that's okay."

Grant nodded, and the Flygon departed just as Harris tossed a few chips into the pot.

"Why don't we start with two?"

Five hours later, Jenny returned to the Contest Hall, only to find Harris and Kyle still playing. Both of their piles of chips were about equal. She turned to look at Grant, who was chatting it up with a Linoone and a Mienshao. She approached the group, and raised an eyebrow.

"They're still going at it, Grant?"

Grant nodded. "It seems like every time Kyle figures out Harris's strategy, he gets cocky. Harris spends the next few rounds emptying him out, and Kyle only gets ahold of himself with a handful of chips left."

The Linoone nodded. "That, and the Blue Snow's lucky. He's gotten six or seven really good hands, but it's only ever been when he's on the defensive. I'm Geordi, by the way- my friend here's Selena."

The Mienshao nodded to Jenny, and they continued watching as Kyle won the hand. She turned back to Geordi. "How long do these games usually last?"

"If one player's far better than the others, it can last minutes. However, if this continues as it has been, Harris will probably win in another few hours."

"Hours, you say?"

Jenny approached Kyle. "Hey, listen. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not spend several hours watching people play a game I don't really understand. Why don't you try and bet everything on the next hand?"

Kyle looked at her like she'd sprouted an extra head. "Everything on a hand I haven't even seen yet?"

"Look, you said yourself that you aren't going to convince him. If you win, bonus party member. If you lose, you don't have to deal with him. Simple as that."

Kyle thought about it, and shrugged. "I don't know-"

Jenny turned to Harris. "Hey, why don't we end this on the next hand?"

Harris shrugged. "Suits me."

Kyle was aghast. "Jenny, you could very well have-"

"It works out fine either way. Trust me."

Grant rose, and dealt them each their hands. Kyle looked at his cards, and nodded. "Right... I'll take three."

Grant passes him his cards back, and did the same for Harris. Each placed all of their chips into the pot, and Harris nodded.

"You first."

Kyle placed two cards down. "...Pair of eights..."

There was silence for a good long while, and Harris sighed. "...Fold."

Kyle breathed a sigh of relief- that hand was terrible. He rose, and held a hand out to Harris. "Welcome back aboard, Harris. I look forward to working with you again."

Harris murmured back, "Shut up, Kyle."

Kyle picked his Bone Club sack up, and slung it across his back. "I want to see you at the West entrance of the town at noon tomorrow. Bring anything you want, but make sure that you can travel with it easily. Understood?"

"Right. Sure. Fine."

As the trio left the room, Kyle turned to Jenny. "Remind me to take your more absurd advice more often."

"Can do, Kyle."

***

The group assembled outside the town the next day. Harris looked a bit disheveled, and he seemed more than a bit eager to get the hell out of dodge. Grant turned to look at him as they left.

"Hey. It's not like it's any of my business, but if I had to guess, I'd say you're a bit in the hole after last night. Was that Selena woman really that good?"

"We will say nothing more on the matter. Anyway, where are we heading now?"

Kyle smiled a bit to himself, and turned around. "We're heading to Mt. Chimney. One of the party is there, without a doubt. In fact, I wanted to pick you up before I contacted her- if she knows that you're traveling with us, she won't turn down the chance to fight you..."

Harris was speechless. "You can't be serious."

"I am. Sal's ability to beat down opponents rivals yours, and I know she saw your ability as a personal objective. We're picking her up, and there's not a thing that can stop us."

Before Harris could protest any further, Grant placed a hand on Kyle's shoulder. "I just want to be clear- if that woman attempts to harm you, I will fight to defend you, at full power if I have to."

Kyle's voice wavered a bit as he responded. "...Yeah, um, I understand..."

On that note, the foursome headed West, towards the home of one of their most dangerous allies.


	4. Chapter 3: Persona Non Grata

Lavaridge Town

August 3rd

11:00 AM

Grant slowly exhaled and leaned against the wall of the hot spring. It had been a few years since the last time he'd been here, and it had changed significantly since last then- specifically, in the way that the spring had now been sectioned off into human and Pokémon sections. During the week of Blue Snow, the existing spring had been contaminated. An artificial one had been installed two weeks later to preserve the tourist trade, and the existing one had been opened up to afflicted humans and their Pokémon.

As he reclined, he heard Harris enter behind him. The Ambipom sat down in the water and looked over towards him.

"So, you're here, too? I would have thought Kyle would have at least brought you along..."

"He seemed to think that it would be safer if he was the only one to approach her. I agree that one of us would be the safest, but I don't think it should be him."

"Yeah, a group would either frighten her off, or cause her to slash them to ribbons first and ask questions later."

They were silent for a while, and Grant abruptly stood up. "Right, that tears it. I'm going after him."

He felt Harris grab him from behind with one of his tails. "Relax. One person isn't going to provide enough of a challenge for her, and she'll back off once she gets the first hit in."

Grant slowly stopped struggling, and sat back down. "It's that one hit that worries me. I tell you, that Zangoose isn't right in the head. It's funny, though- you seem a lot less apprehensive about our recruiting her than you did yesterday. What gives?"

Harris chuckled darkly. "Well... Even though she ended up as some kind of psycho eventually, she started out nice enough- almost like a younger sister to me. Then, the first league happened, and she snapped sometime in the third round. Maybe she's had time to cool off since then- you know, time to unwind from the rigorous training required to remain league-viable."

"You think she was normal? Are you delusional? This is the person who used to talk about artful use of her claws, admired blades whenever they were on display, and very nearly killed Edgar the first time they fought."

"...I said nice, not normal..."

The pair were interrupted as Jenny followed them in, and took a seat as well. "You two talking about Sal?"

Harris nodded, and Jenny chuckled. "Um, yeah. What was her battle cry again?" She lowered her voice in imitation of Sal's distinctive dialect. "'I'm gonna make y'all mothers bleed'?"

Grant almost broke down laughing. "I don't..." Grant snorted as he tried to contain his laughter. "...think it was that nice, Jenny..."

Harris shook his head. "Nope. Not at all."

The three of them continued back and forth, discussing the oddities of their old teammate. They barely noticed when Kyle entered the spring, and slowly immersed himself in the water.

Eventually, Harris turned over towards him. "Hey, Kyle! Did you find her? Is she coming?"

Kyle slowly shook his head. "No. She won't be coming with us."

He was about to continue when Jenny interjected. "Right! What do we have to do to convince her? Beat her in a contest of strength? We have Harris for that- you won't need to lift a-"

"Sal is dead."

Jenny opened her mouth again, but didn't respond. Grant simply nodded, and hung his head. Harris immediately spun towards Kyle, barely noticing when some of the steaming water was splashed at Grant.

"Tell me what happened!"

Kyle began speaking far slower than normal. "I wasn't able to get a complete story, but from what I can gather, there was a small earthquake in the area about a year after she arrived. A number of landslides occurred as a result, and she was caught up in one of them."

The group was silent for some time, and Harris eventually spoke. "My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, and I must pause till it come back to me..."

Kyle leaned over next to him. "...You want to leave?"

Harris simply nodded, and they all rose at once, leaving the spring behind.

They spent the rest of the afternoon just outside the town. Harris hadn't said a word since his brief eulogy, and Kyle had remained almost as silent, speaking only when spoken to. Grant and Jenny had spent that time discussing Sal far more reverently than they had done in the hot spring.

Eventually, Jenny turned to face Kyle. "It's starting to get dark. Do we head back into town?"

Kyle simply nodded, and they began the long walk back into Lavaridge.

Jenny's eyes flicked open, and she sat up.

It was still in the middle of the night, and the rest of the party was asleep. Grant was snoring slightly, and Kyle's skull rattled every time he exhaled. Harris, meanwhile, was dead silent, and Jenny wasn't sure if he was a genuinely quiet sleeper, or if he was actually still awake.

So, the noise that had woken her wasn't coming from any of her companions. It had sounded like something large and metal had been dropped a short distance away. How it hadn't woken any of her friends, she was still trying to puzzle out.

She rose, and began wandering in the direction of the sound. Her searching eventually led her to the Pokémon Center. She could hear voices from the other side of the hot spring.

"Be careful with that. If you damage it, Thessala will have your head."

"It's not my fault this thing weighs a ton and a half. Why do we need this thing?"

"The alternative is growing a nice fur coat. Now, lower it into the water- carefully."

She heard an odd scraping sound, and a bizarre red glow surrounded the building. She leaned against the wall of, taking a moment to try and understand what was going on. Unable to figure it out, she zipped back to the campsite, and started shaking Kyle.

"Hey, Kyle! Something weird is going on at the Center!"

Kyle mumbled as he slowly woke up. "Hrm... A Pokémon League champion scoffs at gravity, Jenny..."

She sighed, shaking him a little harder. "Kyle, wake up! All the way. We need to have a look at this."

Kyle slowly pulled himself to his feet. "...What is it? Are you sure you're not dreaming?"

"Dead sure. There's something going on in the hot spring. At least two people, and a glowy red light. The way they were talking suggested that they weren't supposed to be there."

Kyle shrugged. "Alright, let's have a look. If they don't look legit, we can call the police."

Jenny nodded, and they two continued back to the center.

As soon as they arrived, the last of the light vanished. Jenny turned to look down at Kyle. "You saw it, right?"

Kyle tilted his head to the side. "There was a light, but I'm not sure if that means anything..."

Before Jenny could argue, a loud crash interrupted her. One of the voices shouted, "Hey! What did I tell you about- oh, you blithering idiot..."

The second voice began shouting in a panic. Jenny looked down at Kyle, and raised an eyebrow. Kyle sighed, and craned his neck up to the side of the spring.

A second later, he dropped back down. "Whoever they are, they've got a blue chemical with them. One of them touched it, and now he's a Liepard."

Jenny quickly poked her head up to confirm Kyle's statement, and ducked her head down once she was certain of its accuracy. "Okay, so what do we do?"

"Definitely get the police on the line. We can find someone to give them a message from us. After that, we can-"

"Fahny thin aboot terneeng nto a Pokémon- you coompreehund the lengwedge."

At the surprise interruption, Kyle and Jenny spun around in place, staring upwards at the suddenly-close Liepard. Two people had followed him- the person the former human had been arguing with, and a younger man of about Kyle's age.

The arguer, a tall man with buzzed black hair turned to the other. "What do you think? Do we run, or fight?"

The younger one, far shorter than his companion, stared Kyle down with icy blue eyes. "Hmmm... We're not going to be able to escape if we run- this one's a fighter. Taking the pair of them down is going to be easier than trying to get away."

"You got it, boss."

The Liepard and the arguer assumed fighting stances. Kyle tilted his head. "Do they intend to fight us themselves, Jenny?"

Jenny shrugged. "It's a viable option for the kitty, but the other one's pretty much DOA."

"You would think that, wouldn't you?"

Kyle's jaw dropped as the human joined in the conversation. "You can understand us?"

The human chuckled to himself, motioning at an earpiece that Kyle hadn't noticed. "It'd hardly be easy for us to work with a chemical like-"

Suddenly, the young man was at the other one's side. "Utter another syllable, and I'll have you shot. Got that, Simmons?"

Simmons jumped in surprise, but quickly regained his composure. "Um, got it boss."

As his superior wandered off to the side of the battle, Kyle shrugged. "Okay, so I get the sense that if you breathe a word about what you were doing here tonight, your boss won't like it. A shame- I was looking forward to figuring out what the hell this is. Anyway, we may as well cut to the chase."

He assumed a fighting position, holding his bone out in front of him. Simmons grinned to himself, and dropped a wrench out of his sleeve. "Sounds fine to me!"

The two charged at each other, smashing into each other as bone met wrench. The two stood in place, each trying to overpower the other. They held this pose for a good fifteen seconds before Kyle noticed the crack in his bone. In his surprise, he dropped his offensive, and was immediately smacked ten feet away.

As he slowly picked himself up, he looked over at his Bone Club, which lay several feet to the side. He scrambled over to pick it up, and brought it up to defend himself from the next strike.

His effort was rewarded with a loud snap and a blast of pain against his snout as the wrench broke through the bone, and narrowly missed the killing strike.

As Kyle lay on the ground, paralyzed in both fear and pain, Simmons lifted the wrench into the air once more. Kyle was dimly aware of it beginning its arc before a sudden emerald blur zipped past him, and into Simmons's chest.

Jenny had picked the man up, and was in the process of ramming him into a tree. The second he smashed into it, he let go of the wrench, and it dropped to the ground. Jenny kept him pinned, and unable to reach his weapon.

"Kyle! Grab the thing!"

Kyle picked himself up, and stumbled over to the wrench, and picked it up. No... The balance was all wrong on this thing. There was no way he could wield this thing the way he could his bone...

Jenny didn't seem bothered by this, waiting for him to stand back before dropping Simmons onto the ground. Before he could make a move for Kyle, she leaned down next to him.

"Your friend lasted roughly ten seconds. Run."

She motioned over her shoulder, where an unconscious Liepard was sprawled on the ground. Dropping him, she turned back to Kyle.

"Truth be told, though, I'm out of practice. A fighter like that should have only lasted four-"

She was cut off by a dart flying past her, and striking Simmons. The man shrieked as his body began to shift, abandoning humanity entirely in favor of an Unown body.

Kyle spun around, and caught a glimpse of the younger man holstering a pistol, and vanishing into the darkness. He dropped the wrench, and turned to Jenny. "I'm going after him."

Jenny shook her head. "Whoever he was, he's no concern of ours now."

"When has that phrase ever been uttered without the speaker being bitten in the ass by it later?"

Jenny thought for a moment, and sighed. "Fine. Go after him. Good luck."

Kyle scrambled off after the young man, following his footprints on the ground. Eventually, he came across his target leaning against a wall.

"Hm. You followed me. Predictable, really. I suppose this is the part where you ask me who I am, who I represent, and demand to know more about the Blue Snow?"

"That was the idea."

"The first is no business of yours. The second is something you'll find out later. The third is too complicated to explain to you."

Kyle growled at him. "Funny. Now, answer my questions."

"I'm thinking no. You can't fight me yourself, and your team won't arrive in time to catch me. You can tell me who you are, though- I know I've heard your voice before. Now, where was it..?"

Kyle was about to charge the man when a sound from the bushes startled him. He spun around in surprise, and the young man dashed beside him, smashing the grip of his pistol into the back of Kyle's head.

Kyle reeled, and spun around in time to receive a kick to the face. He landed on the ground, barely conscious. He was dimly aware of the man speaking into a headset.

"It's me. Mission failed. I had to put it back."

Kyle heard the sound of a helicopter approaching as he finally stopped fighting, and fell into unconsciousness.


	5. Chapter 4: Along the Way

August 5th, 2024

6:30 AM

"And in news today, the first human-Pokémon marriage has been legalized. Nancy Emerson met her Girafarig fifteen years ago, and bonded with him over the week of Blue Snow. After the day of Red Sun, the pair of them began looking into marriage licenses. As of the present time, neither has commented on it, but sources close to them say that..."

Kyle's eyes flicked open as the bizarre news story played in the background. He was in a hospital bed. That by itself was odd- the last time this had happened, it had been after the ceiling had collapsed when he was in Granite Cave.

He was just beginning to wonder what he was doing here when the memories came rushing back- the hot spring, Simmons, his mysterious boss, and the melee that had followed.

He sat up and looked around. Jenny, Grant, and Harris were seated next to him, every last one of them asleep. On his other side was a television with the news turned on at an obnoxiously loud volume.

He reached over, and switched it off before the weather came on. Turning over to his team, he reached over towards Harris, and began shaking him lightly. "Harris. Hey, wake up!"

Harris jumped a little in his seat. "Mmf! 'M talking, s'I'm awake..."

He took a moment, and then jumped a little again. "Oh, Kyle! You're awake! Guys!"

The two of them set about waking Grant and Jenny. When they had all woken up, Kyle nodded. "Right, so tell me what happened. I'll fill you in on what I know."

Grant started. "Well, Jenny woke us up at around three in the morning, talking about the hot spring being tampered with. Harris went to the police, and I followed after you. I found you unconscious, and heard a helicopter flying away. I brought you here, and we all rotated between waiting for you to wake up and talking to the police."

"I see. There were two people left behind- what happened to them?"

"Well, the Liepard refused to talk about anything, on the grounds that whatever the police could do to him, he knew someone who could- and would- do a thousand times worse. Meanwhile, the Unown..."

Grant trailed off, and Jenny continued for him. "Unown have a hive mind. Since he's never experienced anything like this before, his mind sort of... broke. They don't know if they'll ever be able to get anything out of him."

Kyle nodded slowly. "...I see... Well, did they investigate the hot spring?"

Harris sighed. "Of course they did. Reports are inconclusive- we're hearing alternately that there was nothing unusual about the water, and that the Blue Snow in the water is less diluted than it was before. In either case, it's closed until they can get a proper answer."

"So, in a nutshell, we accomplished nothing... Did any of you manage to grab the halves of my Bone Club?"

Jenny shook her head. "It didn't even cross my mind to grab them. Did you really want them?"

Kyle thought for a moment. "Well, it would be easier to explain to the elders..."

Harris tilted his head to the side. "Elders? How hard did you get hit, Kyle?"

Grant faceplamed. "We covered this, Harris. Kyle's going to need to make a trip back to the Marowak graveyard at some point to pick up a replacement bone. The Marowak elders there weren't fond of him when he was training, and are probably going to assume that he lost it."

"Oh, right. I see. Well, perhaps we ought to make the trip as soon as Kyle's allowed to leave?"

Kyle shook his head. "Actually, there's a trip I want to make first. I want to go to Mt. Pyre. They may not have Sal's body there, but I can at least light a candle for her. Along the way, we can talk to Glen about joining us. You think he's still on 123?"

Harris chuckled. "Dude, with the way he was talking about that Nidorina the last time I saw him, there's no way he's left."

Kyle raised an eyebrow. "So, he may be a tough one to recruit?"

Jenny shrugged. "I don't know. His farewell was pretty tearful, and I don't know very many Nidokings that tackle-cuddle their trainers..."

Grant very nearly burst out laughing. "Oh, yeah! I almost forgot about that! Didn't Kyle end up hurting his back the first time?"

The group turned towards him, shock written across their faces. Grant took a moment to switch gears, putting on a serious face. "...Which was tragic, and painful, and not in any way funny."

Kyle glowered at Grant for a few more seconds before Harris interrupted the death glare. "As much as we'd all love to see Glen again, it's stupid to run around without a way to defend yourself. You've got nothing in the way of physical strength, and forget about special attacks. A bone club is the only way you can stand up to attackers."

"You really think I'll be attacked again?"

Harris nodded. "Without a doubt. Jenny described those guys as efficient- if they don't attack you again at some point in the near future, I'll eat your skull helmet. Also consider that you chased them- that's a definite sign that you consider yourself some kind of hero."

Kyle thought about it. "Hmmm... That does make a lot of sense... That, and he recognized my voice."

The silence following this statement was nearly tangible. All at once, the party leaped inches away from Kyle's face.

"What?"

"-didn't say anything about-"

"-Berries, I'm done-"

Kyle hopped back in bed, cracking his head against the headboard of the bed, before sinking back down to where he had been a second before. Rubbing the back of his skull, he addressed the group. "Ah... Okay, listen, guys- he recognized my voice, yes, but he didn't connect it with anything. Anyone who followed the League from 2017 to 2020 has heard it. For all we know, he just filed it away as a coincidence."

Harris scoffed. "You really believe that? Think very hard before answering."

"Trust me. The odds-"

Jenny sighed. "Wonderful. He's mentioned the odds. I guarantee you, at this very moment, they've figured out your identity."

Kyle shook his head. "Look, guys- I'm willing to go about this optimistically. Until they start sniping at us from windows-"

Kyle was interrupted by Jenny and Harris ducking behind his bed, as though expecting a bullet to come whizzing through the glass. As they stared up at him, Kyle sighed, and continued.

"-I'm going to assume that they don't know who we are. Is that clear?"

Grant nodded slowly. "It's clear. But just keep in mind-"

Kyle shifted his attention over to Harris and Jenny. "And what about you?"

Jenny shrugged. "We're all going to regret this, but sure."

Harris simply nodded, and Kyle slid out of the bed. "Now, all we do is wait until I can be discharged. Until then, why don't we just sit back, and watch whatever batshit insane news story is on, alright?"

The next day, Kyle was allowed to leave, so they left Lavaridge as soon as they could. Harris took one last look up Mt. Chimney before turning to face Kyle.

"Alright, so how are we doing this? The Fallarbor route, or are we taking the ferry?"

"I'm thinking Fallarbor. If we take that way, there's a chance we could run into Edgar-"

Grant immediately stopped moving. "I move to veto that suggestion."

Jenny followed suit. "Seconded. We're not picking Edgar up. No way, no how."

Kyle raised an eyebrow, somewhat confused. "What's the matter? He was a decent fighter in spite of his age, and if necessary, could function as a quick getaway."

Grant sighed, sitting down next to Kyle. "Yeah, all of that's true. However, you never had to listen to that old bastard talk. Never has there been a more vitriolic old coot."

Harris nodded in agreement. "I can't even count the number of times he stuck his beak into our business- it was only because of his seniority that Sal didn't kill him fifty times over, and I think even Glen hated him."

Jenny shook her head. "I don't think Glen's capable of hate, but he certainly argued with the old man a lot. Trust me, it's far, far better to avoid Fallarbor entirely."

Kyle sat down, now aware of a previously unknown trait of one of his old team. "I'm sorry. I never knew. You're all opposed?"

The three of them nodded their heads, and Kyle sighed. "Alright, then. I guess we're going via Dewford."

They spent the morning traveling to Slateport and took the Seagallop back to Petalburg. Upon arrival, they made a beeline through Petalburg Woods, and stopped briefly in Rustboro for the evening. As morning broke the next day, Kyle woke the party, and they headed north.

As they moved up the shoreline that constituted the north edge of the town, Jenny turned to look at Grant. "So, a Marowak graveyard under Meteor Falls. How long's that been there?"

Grant shrugged. "The elders indicated that it had been there at least since the Temporal Collapse incident, but they didn't say what that was, nor how long it had been. Honestly, it just sounded like they were being pretentious."

"I see. It doesn't ring a bell for me, which is a little on the weird side. Perhaps you're right. Anyway, what happens when we arrive?"

Grant rolled his eyes. "They take Kyle away for a few days, grudgingly give us lodging, and act incredibly rude to us for the entire visit."

"...Seriously?"

"Yeah. Apparently, we're 'outsiders,' and that means that as long as we're visiting, we're denied basic civility. Apparently, it's one of those ancient order things."

Jenny slowly nodded, taking this in. "Well, at least I'm prepared for it. What does Kyle do?"

"I asked him, and he indicated that he's not allowed to tell."

"Huh. Any reason for that?"

She nearly jumped a foot in the air as Kyle spun around to answer. "Because I know I'm going to have to return at least once in the future. Contrary to common knowledge, my bone club does not evolve with me. If I want to keep my protection, I have to abide by their rules."

He turned to the side, and examined a rock wall. "Alright, then... Now, I remember that it was right around..."

He nodded as he found what he was looking for. A short, thick stick lay on the ground by the wall. He picked it up, and tapped it twice against the wall, paused for a second, and repeated the action. One more pause, and then a final light tap. As this finished, the wall rumbled and sank into the ground, revealing a cave entrance.

A single torch lit the entranceway, and the tunnel beyond was bathed in darkness. Harris was about to reach for the torch when Grant lightly slapped the back of his head.

"Hey. Moron. I'm your light source."

The group descended into the cave, and the door closed behind them. They wandered down the passageway and watched as the rock walls eventually spread out to the sides.

Harris nearly jumped a foot at the first skeleton they came across, but Kyle simply shrugged. "Relax. Down here, it's the living things you need to worry about. Even then, they're only dangerous when provoked."

As they continued further down, skeletons and discarded bones became more and more common sights, to the point where a few were stacked on top of each other. After about an hour, the bones were stacked ten feet high, forming a macabre pathway.

Some two hours into their trek downward, they arrived at what looked like a rock carved into the shape of a Taiko drum. Kyle picked a small rib bone up off the ground, and began tapping a fast-paced rhythm across it.

As he reached the ten-second mark, two gigantic fires lit up on either side of the drum, revealing that they had wandered into some sort of great hall. The walls, ceiling, and even parts of the floor were made entirely of bone.

As the rhythm continued, seven adult Marowak entered the room from the opposite side that Kyle and the party had entered. The lot of them stood on the opposite side of the drum, apparently waiting for Kyle to finish.

Jenny was about to approach them when Grant grabbed her arm. He motioned for her to lean her head down next to him, and whispered, "Better not address them. Unless they decide Kyle needs an interpreter, they don't like you talking to them."

After about a minute and a half of solid tapping, Kyle moved away from the front of the drum, approaching the group of Marowak. "Mothers Isabella, Willow, Drusilla, Elizabeth, and Margaret. Fathers Silas and Jonathan."

One of the Mothers approached him. "Child. You have returned. Your speech is more intelligible than last time, but I must insist that until it is perfect, you communicate in the code we established. Is that clear?"

Kyle opened his mouth, but Grant stepped in front of him. "I don't think you established a code tap for what he needs, so let me translate. His bone was shattered in a fight. He needs a new one. Can you help him?"

One of the other Mothers nodded. "We can, but it will take time. One week, and he will need to be given remedial training."

Jenny raised an eyebrow. "Why does he need to be trained again? It's just a new bone."

Grant leaned back towards her. "Each bone is almost unique, with a single match in the entire graveyard. It's unlikely that he'll find his bone's match, so he'll need to be re-taught everything about his weapon."

One of the Fathers nodded. "In addition, it's clear that he hasn't practiced at all since we let him out last time. How often have you swung your Bone Club since we last saw you? Once? Twice? If you have any hope of evolving, Child, then you need to battle on your own time."

Kyle nodded, and one of the Mothers turned to the group. "I see he's brought more outsiders with him. Did we not make it clear that this was not to happen again?"

Harris shrugged. "We're here for his protection. And remember that Kyle was born a human- doesn't that make him just as much of an outsider as us?"

The speaker shook her head. "We swore an oath to tutor any and all Cubone and Marowak that come to us for aid, regardless of birth. What he was before now does not matter to us."

Harris and Jenny stared confusedly at each other. Grant shrugged. "I've tried understanding it. It makes just as much sense to me. Anyway, since we're with him, is there a place we can stay?"

One of the fathers nodded. "We have a number of bunks open. Understand, though, that you will be sharing living space with a number of young Children. Under no circumstances are you to interact with them in any way other than to carry messages from us. Is that understood?"

Grant nodded. "Very well. Will Kyle be bunking in the same place as us?"

"No. It's not likely that any of you will see him during his training. He is a graduate, and as such will be expected to make his own living space on the other side of the graveyard."

Grant nodded, and looked back at the other two. "Do either of you have a problem with that?"

Harris nodded, but Jenny strode forward. "Now, hold on a second. We're going to be separated from him for a week in this charnel house? Can you guarantee his safety?"

"We guarantee nothing, but any infant should be able survive here unsupervised."

Jenny laughed, shaking her head. "You seriously expect-"

Grant strode over to her, and pulled her aside. "Jenny, shut up before you piss one of them off. Their rules are nonsensical, but they believe in them wholly. These guys are incredibly strong, too, and can back up their beliefs with their fists if necessary. I fought with one of them when Kyle was here the last time, and I lost horribly. There are seven of them here. You can't do Kyle any good horribly injured, so please just let this one go."

Before she had a chance to respond, he spun back around to the elders. "As I said, your terms are acceptable. Good luck, Kyle."

One of the Fathers stepped over to them. "I will lead you to your lodgings. Remember the rule we gave you."

Grant nodded, and the group walked off. Jenny leaned close to him, and whispered. "Don't think I didn't take that personally, Grant. I'm taking the next negotiation, whether you like it or not."

Grant nodded. "Sorry, it's just... These Pokémon frighten me. I didn't want my teammates to get hurt."

Jenny shrugged. "I agree with your reasoning, but your methods need a lot of work."

With that, they were led into the darkness, into the city of bone, into a cave of death far underneath a mountain, and away from their trainer.


	6. Chapter 5: The Abyss

August 7th, 2024

? AM

Kyle stood at the foot of a dimly-lit set of wooden doors. One of the Mothers, Elizabeth, was pacing back and forth in front of it. She seemed to be waiting for something, as she kept turning to look towards the portal.

A loud thumping noise emanated from somewhere deep inside the cave, and she turned to face Kyle.

"It's been a few weeks, so I'll remind you of the rules. Once the door opens, you will have ten minutes to arm yourself. At that point, I will follow you in, and I will attack you. If you keep your grip in the bone during a block, and it does not break, then it will be your new weapon. Do you understand, Child?"

Kyle nodded, tapping his hand against the ground in imitation of code taps. "Yes, Mother. Are there Children inside?"

"No. There are a few other graduates, but they're running from other Elders. You will likely only have to contend with me. However, don't think for an instant that it had suddenly become easy. The mystery dungeon can be treacherous, and you may find yourself running into me around every corner. Now, are you ready?"

Kyle took a deep breath, and steeled himself. "Yes, Mother. Open the door."

Grant finished shuffling the deck, and handed it off to Harris. "Alright. Seven to each of us, and Jenny starts."

They had spent the night in a cramped room filled with young Cubones. After a night of little sleep, they had been roused when the Children had departed all at once, leaving the three of them alone. After they had spent some time napping, Harris suggested that they play a game to pass the time. Apparently, he'd brought along his deck of playing cards.

Jenny picked up her hand, sorting the cards. "Grant- Eight, or pass?"

Grant shook his head. "Pass left."

She handed a card off to Harris, and drew a card from the deck. Harris stared at his had for a few seconds, and chuckled. "Grant- Kings, or pass?"

Grant handed him the requested card. Harris placed four cards facedown in front of him. "Book, Kings."

"Cheat," Jenny muttered, taking note of the King of Hearts in her hand. Harris fanned his book at her, revealing three kings and a seven, and placed it back in his hand. Jenny and Grant each passed him a card, and they turned to look at Grant.

"Jenny, how about fours?"

She passed him the card, and looked over at the door. "I wonder how Kyle's doing. Harris, Jacks."

"Pass right. I'm sure he's doing fine. I mean, he passed this training before, right? Jenny, Kings."

Jenny passed him his card, and sighed as he placed down his book. "Yeah, but we don't know the details of his training. For all we know, he passed by blind luck."

Grant chimed in. "Harris, sixes? He didn't indicate that to me."

"Pass right."

Harris handed Jenny a four, and she placed a book on the ground. He handed the two of them each a card, and shuffled three cards back into the deck. "What exactly did he indicate to you?"

"Well, he indicated that the training was fairly tough, as well as painful. Nothing else aside from that."

Jenny nodded slowly. "Grant, twos? That could honestly mean anything."

"Pass left. Yeah, but I'm confident in his abilities. After all, like Harris said, he already completed it once."

Kyle dove for his stack of bones, hefting one of the heavier ones in front of him as Mother Elizabeth swung her bone at him. The two connected, and Kyle lost his grip as the bone spun away into the darkness.

Barely missing a beat, Elizabeth swung the other end of the bone club towards him. He dodged deftly to the side, grabbing another bone from his pile.

The two had gone back and forth like this for the past fifteen minutes. Kyle had collected a rather large pile of bones, but so far, none of them had been serviceable as weapons.

Elizabeth's club whizzed past his head, and he remembered that he was supposed to be blocking. The club she was using was long and thin, much more like a bone staff. It gave her a lot of speed uncommon among her species, which more than made up for the slight damage reduction.

Kyle brought his club up to defend himself, and was rewarded with a loud snapping sound, followed by a burst of pain as her bone smashed him in the face. He dropped to the ground instantly, barely aware as her next strike hit him across the ribs.

Her third strike, however, he saw coming, and rolled to the side. He picked himself up, shaking his head, trying to stop the room from spinning. He hastily grabbed a bone from the wall, no longer caring about his pile.

A rib. Useless for combat, but...

As she held her bone out to the side, readying her next strike, he tossed it at her face, praying she'd be distracted long enough for him to make a getaway, and maybe stock up on some better-looking bones. No such luck, and she brought her weapon in front of her face, looped the rib around it, and redirected it back towards him. It struck him in the chest, causing him to double over.

"Try not to be so obvious in your attacks, Child. Tell me that your actual combat with a bone isn't this poor."

Kyle slowly rose to his feet, and grabbed at a bone from a nearby wall. He picked it up, and held it at the ready as if to defend himself. Elizabeth chuckled, and stood back.

"And don't think I'm going to be goaded into attacking you when you're that close to an unstable wall, holding a club."

Kyle grimaced as she began scraping her bone against the ground, and picked up a rib with it. She spun it around the bottom of her staff, and slung it towards him. He dodged to his side, and she picked up another.

"You can approach me, or we can go like this forever. Your choice, [i]human.[/i]"

The last word was spat out like a curse, and Kyle found himself charging at her a second later, unsure if it was her tone or fear of being hit in the ribs again that motivated him to do so. A smack from her staff, and he was laid out flat on the ground.

Elizabeth leaned over him. "And don't lose control of your emotions, Child. That never ends well."

Kyle struggled to his feet, and held the bone out in front of himself. Elizabeth swung her bone, and Kyle squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for the impact.

A dull clunk sounded, and Kyle slowly opened his eyes.

Elizabeth was holding her bone against his. It hadn't been knocked away and he didn't see any cracks on it. She slowly pulled hers back.

"This concludes the bone selection part of the training. We will continue tomorrow morning. I recommend you spent the rest of the day recovering. Now, you'll need to follow me out."

Kyle nodded, and slowly stumbled after her out of the labyrinth.

August 8th, 2024

? AM

Grant dealt out the party's hands, and nodded towards Jenny. "Right. Hit or stand?"

Jenny examined her cards, and sighed. "I'm probably going to regret this... Stand."

Grant nodded. "Harris?"

Harris thought for a second. "Hit me."

Grant tossed him a card, and Harris stared down at it. "Bust."

Grant chuckled, and revealed his hand. "Right. My 15 vs Jenny's 16. Victory, Jenny."

Harris handed his cards back, and sighed. "What a surprise. So, Jenny- are you still concerned about Kyle?"

Jenny thought a moment. "Yeah, actually. I mean, I overheard one of the Children here say that a badly bruised Graduate was eating dinner last night. If it wasn't for the fact that we aren't allowed to talk to them, I would have tried to clarify."

Harris nodded. "Well, he's alive. By the way, Grant- do you have any idea what's with that non-interaction rule?"

Grant shrugged. "I asked about it last time. Apparently, the outside world is a distraction for their students, and we're enough of a resource drain as it is without inhibiting their growth. Personally, I don't understand it, but they're really good fighters, so I kept my mouth shut."

Jenny shrugged. "I guess I should have seen that kind of answer coming, to be honest. You'd think they'd have more faith in their students."

"Maybe it's one of those ancient order things? Anyway, do we want to keep playing Blackjack? Or are we good for now?"

August 10th, 2024

? PM

"Hold the bone out in front of you. Feel its weight in your hands. Understand its balance. Once you feel that you know these things, begin the dance."

Kyle slowly nodded towards Mother Drusilla, and slowly let the bone drop into a graceful spin. Swinging it behind himself and over his shoulder, he brought it down in a diagonal strike. Drusilla held her bone in the path of Kyle's and he bounced it off, barely taking a moment to slow the momentum down before executing a half-turn, and striking at the air behind himself.

Drusilla nodded, moving around him, and blocking his strikes whenever applicable. "Nice and slow... Your bone is an excellent weapon, and one that can cause a lot of damage. If you waste time blocking too often, or if you end up in a shoving match, you will find yourself with a broken bone. You discovered this in your last fight- be sure that it does not happen again."

Kyle swung the bone out to the left, and hesitated for a moment. What was next? Was this the horizontal strike, or the pivot and thrust? Had he done two of the former yet, or just the one?

His thoughts were interrupted when Drusilla's bone club smacked into the back of his head. He dropped like a sack of potatoes, and slowly picked himself up.

"This is meant to be one continuous movement. Start again- this time, remember the steps."

"And as you can see... H... O... C... U... S... P... O... C... U... S... And there's your card!"

Jenny flipped a card up on top of a small pile of facedown cards. Grant leaned over it, and raised an eyebrow.

"No, I had the four of clubs. You say you've done this trick before?"

Jenny nodded. "It worked the one time I did it..."

Harris scoffed. "Well, at least I didn't figure the trick out this time. Protip, Jenny- if you're performing the Four Burglars, never let the audience see what cards you're really shuffling back into the deck."

Jenny shuffled the cards back into the deck, and shrugged. "...And that's all I've got in the way of magic tricks that can run on a deck of cards alone. I could perform Find the Lady, or the Transforming Card if you'd let me mutilate a few cards in here..."

"Hell, no. I've had that deck of cards since arriving in Lilycove."

Grant shrugged. "Well, we've now exhausted the list of things that can be done with playing cards, unless the pair of you want to play 52-pickup."

The pair of them shook their heads vigorously. "This idiot here will turn it into a contact sport again, and I'll have to beat the snot out of him for it," Jenny muttered, motioning towards the Ambipom.

Grant shrugged. "Well, that leaves talking. What are the two of you interested in discussing?"

Jenny appeared contemplative for a moment, but Harris spoke first. "Sure, I've got a few questions for the pair of you. It takes no large imagination to guess what I've been up to over the last three years, but what about you two?"

Jenny shrugged. "Well, there's not a lot that's particularly interesting after I settled down. I had a nine-to-five job giving Rescue Teams jobs. The work was mind-numbing, but the pay was decent."

Harris nodded. "And before you settled down?"

"Baked in the sand. Not a fun time."

He shrugged, and turned to Grant. "And how about you?"

"Professional gofer. Not exactly the life you'd expect for a League-winning trump card, but Kyle was always very understanding of when he was overworking me..."

The three of them were silent for a minute, until Grant spoke up. "I think that the League days were a lot better than retirement."

August 12th, 2024

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Kyle brought his Bone Club to eye level, and struck horizontally, scoring the second hit on Father Jonathan. The older Marowak recoiled slightly, and continued his assault.

The pair of them moved rapidly back and forth across the ring. The rules of this skirmish were simple- Kyle won if he scored three hits. He lost if his opponent beat him senseless. As it was, the Marowak elder could probably beat him to death with no issue, but the rules also stated that the more powerful combatant had to use an unfamiliar Bone Club.

The one that Jonathan had selected was a thick, heavy club that almost seemed to belong to a different creature. His swings, as a result, were highly inaccurate, but far more damaging than using a normal club. In addition, his defense was far better than it would have been otherwise, owing to the increase in width.

Kyle dodged to the side, and swung his bone towards Jonathan's side. His efforts were met with a loud clacking sound as the elder brought his bone to intercept Kyle's. Kyle bounced his own back in time to deflect a shot from the other end of his opponent's bone.

"Good, good. Your reactions are improving. I would have thought you had forgotten our last fight based on your start to this one, but you've managed to remember a small bit, at least. You're still conscious five minutes in- that's better than I expected..."

Kyle thrust his bone forward, and was nearly knocked off balance as Jonathan struck his bone to the side. His last strike had been lucky, and the first had been before his opponent had gotten used to the bulk of his weapon. As he was, he was unlikely to hit the elder once more using his current tactics.

Dodging to the side, he dropped his defenses, and tried to maneuver around Jonathan. His efforts were rewarded with a strike to the back of his knees, and another to the back of his head. He crashed into the ground, seeing stars.

Jonathan leaned down over him. "Are you conscious, Child?"

Kyle grunted a reply, and Jonathan extended a hand to him. He took it, and his entire body left the ground as he was tossed into the air. He landed a good ten feet away in a daze, and Jonathan slowly approached him. "Are you still conscious, Child?"

Kyle evaluated his options, and realized that answering this time was probably going to end painfully. Instead, he slowly rose to his feet. Jonathan nodded. "Good. Let's get going, then."

He held his bone at the ready, and nodded towards Kyle. "I figure one or two hits will end this, so you'd better be at your best."

Kyle picked up his bone, and stood at the ready. Rather than immediately re-engaging his opponent, he took a step back, and evaluated Jonathan's defense. The elder held his bone high- maybe he could slip an attack in if he came in below. Or maybe the elder was leading him on, pretending to leave himself vulnerable...

Only one way to figure this out.

August 14, 2024

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"And then, he actually tried to get Glen the potion through the Ekans. What manner of moron tries to spray a potion through an enemy?"

Jenny and Harris dissolved into laughter. Jenny stood after a moment, tears in her eyes. "Seriously? He made a rookie mistake like that? We're still talking about [i]our[/i] Kyle, right?"

Grant chuckled. "Yeah, but even that pales in comparison to that time with the Daycare and the Night of the Ten Thousand Buneary. See, Kyle dropped Sal off at the daycare after the first League, thinking some time off would do her sanity some good. I was with her, more as a stopgap measure to stop her from going nuts, and she assured me that she'd let me die for three days if I ever told anyone about this. Now, there just happened to be -"

His story was interrupted by one of the elders entering the room, followed shortly by Kyle. The elder gave Kyle a look, and addressed the group. "This Child's training is complete. You may leave. If he breaks his bone again, he is welcome back."

Kyle approached them, limping slightly. Jenny raised an eyebrow. "Er... We brought him here uninjured. What did you do to him?"

The elder sighed, apparently annoyed that they hadn't left the instant she had allowed them to. "We trained him. Give him a few days, and he will recover. Good day."

With that, she departed in a huff.

Kyle nodded to the group. "Right. Are we ready to go?"

Grant nodded, but grabbed Kyle's shoulder. "Yes, please, but before we start, I have a request to make."

Kyle began limping towards the door. "What's that?"

"After we find Teri, the lot of us want one more League run. I mean, we all got to talking, and we realized that even though we were all comfortable where we were, it was a lot more fun competing in the League. One more championship, and after that, we'll leave whatever you want to do up to you."

Kyle thought for a few minutes. "Hmmm... We're all out of practice, and I'm no longer guaranteed a position in the first round, but... Hmmm... I'll think about it. Is that alright?"

Jenny spoke up. "It's fair enough for now."

As they trudged back into the darkened hallway they had descended to reach the graveyard, Harris turned to Grant. "So, something about Ten Thousand Bunearies, then?"

"Ah, yes. Anyway, Sal ran into a Seviper there, and after they nearly killed each other, they both realized something that they had in common..."


End file.
